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Politics and Philosophy: Niccolò Machiavelli and Louis Althusser’s Aleatory Materialism PDF

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Politics and Philosophy Historical Materialism Book Series EditorialBoard Paul Blackledge, Leeds – Sébastien Budgen, Paris Michael Krätke, Lancaster – Stathis Kouvelakis, London – Marcel van der Linden, Amsterdam China Miéville, London – Paul Reynolds, Lancashire Peter Thomas, Amsterdam VOLUME23 Politics and Philosophy Niccolò Machiavelli and Louis Althusser’s Aleatory Materialism By Mikko Lahtinen Translatedby Gareth Griffiths and Kristina Kölhi LEIDEN•BOSTON 2009 Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Lahtinen,Mikko. Politicsandphilosophy:NiccoloMachiavelliandLouisAlthusser'saleatorymaterialism/by MikkoLahtinen;translatedbyGarethGriffithsandKristinaKohli. p.cm.–(Historicalmaterialismbookseries,1570-1522;23) TranslatedfromtheFinnish. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-90-04-17650-8(hardback:alk.paper)1.Althusser,Louis,1918-1990–Politicaland socialviews.2.Machiavelli,Niccolò,1469-1527.3.Materialism.I.Griffiths,Gareth.II.Kölhi, Kristina.III.Title.IV.Series. B2430.A474L342009 194–dc22 2009011373 ISSN 1570-1522 ISBN 9789004176508 Copyright2009byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands. KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,HoteiPublishing, IDCPublishers,MartinusNijhoffPublishersandVSP. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher. AuthorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluseisgrantedbyKoninklijkeBrillNV providedthattheappropriatefeesarepaiddirectlytoTheCopyrightClearanceCenter, 222RosewoodDrive,Suite910,Danvers,MA01923,USA. Feesaresubjecttochange. printedinthenetherlands Contents Foreword..................................................................... ix Author’sPrefacetotheEnglishEdition .................................... xi ChapterOne IntroductoryComments .................................... 1 1.1.Althusser,Machiavelliandpoliticaltheory ............................ 1 1.2.Althusser’scontributiontoMachiavellischolarship .................. 9 1.2.1.Thegeneralandtheparticular ................................... 9 1.2.2.Thepoliticalpraxisofaprince ................................... 10 1.2.3.Aleatorydynamics................................................ 11 1.2.4.‘Veritàeffettualedellacosa’–‘Theeffectivetruth’ .............. 13 1.2.5.Moralsandpolitics................................................ 14 1.2.6.Materialistpoliticaltheory........................................ 15 1.3.Theapproachofthepresentstudy ..................................... 16 ChapterTwo ACritiqueofHegelianism.................................. 19 2.1.AcritiqueofHegeliandialectics........................................ 20 2.2.Althusser’sMarxism.................................................... 30 2.2.1.Overdeterminationandunderdetermination.................... 33 The‘morphology’oftheover-andunderdeterminationof contradictions................................................... 36 Therealityofcontradictions ...................................... 41 Displacementsandcondensationsinideologicalapparatuses– ideologicalapparatusesasthedisplacementsand condensationsofcontradictions ............................... 43 Themetaphoricnatureofthetopographic ....................... 49 Russia1917......................................................... 55 2.2.2.Summary:complexityandchaos................................. 59 vi • Contents 2.2.3.Engelsandindividualwill........................................ 63 Theindividualwill ................................................ 66 2.3.Althusser’sself-criticism................................................ 72 2.3.1.Elliott’stheoreticistinterpretationofAlthusser.................. 81 2.4.The‘Machiavellian’Lenin .............................................. 83 2.4.1.Towardsatheoreticisationofpractice............................ 87 ChapterThree AleatoryMaterialism...................................... 89 3.1.Prologue:Machiavelli’ssolitude........................................ 89 3.2.Theundergroundcurrentofthematerialismoftheencounter........ 95 3.2.1.Law................................................................ 100 3.2.2.Surprises........................................................... 104 ChapterFour Althusser’sAleatoryMachiavelli.......................... 109 4.1.Apreliminaryschema:thetwodimensionsofMachiavelli’s differentiaespecificae...................................................... 109 4.1.1.‘Theoretical’differentiaspecifica ................................... 110 4.1.2.‘Political’differentiaspecifica....................................... 111 4.2.Machiavelli’sdifferentiaspecificainthehistoryofpoliticalthought ... 113 4.2.1.Machiavelli–Montesquieu–Aristotle........................... 115 4.3.ThepraxisofThePrince:thetextasapoliticalact ..................... 125 4.3.1.Machiavelli’sutopianism......................................... 136 4.4.Thepraxisoftheprince:thealeatorytruth ............................ 139 4.4.1.Thealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’................... 144 Themanofactionandhiscase.................................... 157 4.4.2.Beyondthealeatoryofthe‘subjective’and‘objective’ .......... 162 4.5.Thepraxisoftheprince:theprojectandstrategyofthenewprince.. 171 4.5.1.MachiavelliandPolybius......................................... 172 4.5.2.Theconditionsforthepoliticalprojectandstrategyofthenew prince.............................................................. 178 4.5.3.Thelawlesshero .................................................. 183 4.5.4.Apopularideologicalfigure...................................... 187 Theinstinctofthefox.............................................. 187 Displacementsandcondensations................................ 197 4.5.5.Thedialecticoftheinterestsoftheprinceandthepeople....... 200 4.5.6.Thestateandthelaw ............................................. 205 Contents • vii 4.6.Epilogue:Althusser’sinterpretationofMachiavelli................... 212 ChapterFive TheSubversiveMachiavelli ................................ 215 5.1.Theartofwarandtheartofpolitics ................................... 215 5.2.Thedestructivecurrentoffortuna ...................................... 223 5.2.1.Theactor’sprudence.............................................. 240 5.3.Theaspectsoffortuna ................................................... 242 5.3.1.KronosandKairos.................................................. 252 5.4.LadyFortunaandtheyoungmen ...................................... 253 5.5.TheriseandfallofCesareBorgia....................................... 256 5.5.1.Cesare’smisfortune............................................... 262 5.6.‘Astablepeople’......................................................... 265 5.6.1.‘Apeople’anda‘nation’inthecontextandterminologyofthe earlycinquecento................................................... 274 5.6.2.MachiavelliintheFlorentinecontext ............................ 281 Classpositionandambitions...................................... 285 5.6.3.‘Utopian’texts..................................................... 290 NazioneandMachiavelli........................................... 297 5.7.Epilogue:Machiavelliandthetamingofchance....................... 302 ChapterSix Conclusion.................................................... 307 References.................................................................... 313 Index ......................................................................... 323 Foreword In the mid-1990s, at the time I was completing the originalFinnishversionofthisbook,nowpublished here in English, we were living in the aftermath of thecrisisinMarxismandthecollapseof‘realsocial- ism’. This situation also created a less favourable academic-intellectualatmosphereforwritingabook onacommunistphilosophersuchasLouisAlthus- ser. In a situation where the initiative of the Left was at a low ebb, it felt very reassuring to read – apartfromGramsci’sPrisonNotebooks–Althusser’s then recently posthumously published analyses of Machiavelli and ‘aleatory materialism’. It was illuminating to delve into his later views – views that can be traced to his earlier writings – on the theoreticalproblematicsofthepoliticalintervention reflected in his analyses. I found an Althusser for whomitwasessential–nomore,noless–toreflect onthequestionof‘whatistobedone’intheconjunc- ture, or to reflect on how the ‘conjunctural’ under- standingofhistoryandrealitycouldofferatheoret- icalstartingpointforasubversivepoliticalstrategy. In the presentbook, itis indeedessential to read Althusser above all as someone who advanced a theory ofmaterialistpolitics,andwhoselaterwrit- ings open up potential – albeit incomplete – views fortheadvancementofMarxistpoliticaltheory.As

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Often portrayed as an aloof philosopher, Louis Althusser's work on Niccolo Machiavelli reveals Althusser's deep commitment to political practice. Seeking to challenge the prevailing views on Althusser, Mikko Lahtinen argues that the French thinker cannot be understood from a purely philosophical per
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